LEADING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES – 2: A crisis winnows true leaders from big bosses

Mohan G Joshi

Let us go back to BC, the time before corona. What was your “kick”? Why did you lead a business? Adrenaline rush? Wealth accumulation? Or because you love to be in charge?

And what were your criteria for picking the leaders who helped you run the business? Trust? Qualifications? Past performance?

Did you have a regular mechanism in place to assess how they fared? Did you just let them be unless they caused a disruption? Or did you use a crisis to test their mettle?

So, how did you deal with the fire?

Big or small, whether they like to or not, very many businesses are being forced to let go of their people. A large company based in a metropolis is no exception.

Like many of us, they thought the crisis would blow over in a couple of months. Initially, they had enough reserves to let things be. However, last month, they woke up to see that the tunnel did not seem to end. Even if they imagined there was a faint light ahead, the track was getting too bumpy and unpredictable. It was time to uncouple some wagons.

The owners realized that letting go of the workers would hardly help. Instead, they looked at the top layer, which now appeared to be rather expensively bloated.

They decided to go about it objectively, without letting personal likes and emotions get in the way. After all, most of the bosses had been with them for long. The company had been quite liberal with its compensation in various forms. Most of the executives (all above 40) were paying at least three EMIs—house, vehicle and education. Any action was sure to trigger messy emotions.

Did you act or wait for the fire brigade?

They appointed a renowned consultant who had their trust. The mandate had two parts. First, look at all the top leaders (compensation was the primary filter). Ignore their designations and their past records. Assess what they did during the last four or five months, after business was locked down.

Did they wait for instructions? Did they stick their neck out and take positive, proactive decisions, after quickly weighing their options, regardless of the outcome? Did they take the initiative to pick up new skills, especially the digital kind? Did they go ahead and slash big spends (like lease rentals) without compromising safety and jeopardizing the possibility of a full-scale resumption in the future?

The scrutiny was ruthless. At the end of it, only five of twenty bosses passed the test. The company immediately moved to protect and reward the five. The remaining were handed out a cut in compensation ranging from 20% to 60%. The message was clear.

Then came the second mandate to the consultant. Help the 15 find jobs. Reverse recruitment is a tall order given the state of the economy. The consultant is still at it. Possibly some of them are also independently looking for options and a few might have even found jobs.

Unwelcome crisis, welcome teacher

We would all like it if Covid-19 goes away soon and returns our world to us. However, let us hold on to the lessons it leaves behind.

There can be some very realistic simulations. Nothing matches piloting a craft full of people, with both engines sputtering, and staying at the controls until a relatively safe landing.

And let us hope that the bosses who have been let go will make better pilots wherever they are headed next. After all they have been through a trial by fire.